German term
France
Lawyer and Oxford linguist, Ireland
Native in: English
Works in: French to English, German to English
Dampf in der Bude
I've found several instances of this idiom online but none of which allow me to derive a clear meaning. I can't post a whole paragraph due to client confidentiality, but the context here would suggest something like "there was trouble at mill" or "the pressure was on".
Can anyone help? Thanks!
Feb 21, 2017 07:12: BrigitteHilgner changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"
PRO (3): Michael Martin, MA, NGK, BrigitteHilgner
Non-PRO (1): Björn Vrooman
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Proposed translations
Germany
Reach a wider audience
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: German to English
things were getting a bit hot under the collar
| neutral |
Birgit Gläser
: das bezieht sich m.E. nur auf Personen, nicht auf Saschlagen
12 hrs
|
things were getting hot/tension was mounting
| agree |
Sarah Bessioud
: yes, things were hotting up.
35 mins
|
|
Hi there Sarah, good to see you.
|
|
| agree |
phillee
: Things were hotting up - https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/hotting
9 hrs
|
United States
Creativity wins in the long run
Native in: German (Variant: Germany) 
, English (Variant: US)
Works in: German to English
Things were heating up/gathering steam
"The place was rocking.." etc.
It all depends on your context..!
| agree |
phillee
9 hrs
|
| agree |
Axel Dittmer
: https://amberdurhamblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/22/town-hall-m...
2 days 52 mins
|
Discussion
The "hot under the collar" phrase, oddly I agree (but then aren't idioms often odd?) can be used for collective groups, not just individuals, as mentioned - see for an example this article where two sides in a referendum are described as getting hot under the collar.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/politics/both-the-yes-a...
You can upvote it again if you like, considering some may find this one more difficult. There are loads of questions in DE->EN like this one, though, which should have never ever been PRO, so maybe I'm just too used to the way they go about it in the other forum:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/german_to_english/law_general/6271...
And thanks Anna for the feedback.
To both of you: Not saying the answers are wrong and colloquial usage is a bit tricky in German, not least because Germans tend to be more "relaxed" about which tense they use (as are Americans sometimes, considering present perfect differences between BrE and AmE).
I merely wanted to point out that especially if there's a figurative meaning in there somewhere, Germans may use different verbs instead of different tenses in a conversation.
E.g., "kam Dampf in" -> progressive / "war Dampf in" -> simple tense, possibly perfect (based on context), i.e., in your context someone hit the roof. It's not a process, but a state. Whether the speaker used it correctly, however, is a different matter altogether.
They are both PAST progressive...doesn't mean you have to agree, though.
"800 Gäste erlebten in der Philharmonie ein wunderbares Konzert, das genau so war, wie es sich Berthold Beitz gewünscht hatte: 'mit viel Dampf in der Bude'." -> forceful, energetic
http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/essen/dampf-in-der-bude-beim...
or (last paragraph):
http://www.ksta.de/ausbildungsplaetze--da-ist-noch-dampf-in-... -> not yet too late, "something still cooking" (if you know what I mean by that)
Really unfortunate you can't post any context. Here, "Dampf in der Bude" would suggest that something had already gone wrong (so I'd disagree with both answers because of the past progressive) and, e.g., someone is now getting an earful about how miserably they failed the company (or someone else).
Fitting example:
"Zum Lohnklau der Arbeitgeber gibt es eine klare Meinung:
'Da ist Dampf in der Bude!'
Sie wollen für ihre zuverlässige harte – häufig im Dreck und bei Wind und Wetter – erbrachte Facharbeit mehr Anerkennung durch einen guten Tarifabschluss erfahren.
'Die Arbeitgeber sollen keine Spielchen mit uns treiben, sonst hauen wir auf den Putz!'"
http://www.wir-bauen-fuers-leben.de/blog/2014/03/